Flashbulbs
by nannygirl
Summary: Ever wonder why Hyde was the only one to remember Kitty's birthday and how exactly he remembered? Here's my take on it!


_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing!_

_**Author's Note: **__Hello All! Well you asked for it and here it is! Finally lo. And I did say it would be up by May and though it is the last day of May it is still May! To be honest I'm glad you guys voted to read a Hyde and Kitty fic,I love the relationship they had and there aren't many stories about the two of them. And it was really fun to write, may do another one later. We'll see how well this one goes! You really don't have to see the episode, but it is a great episode! Hope you guys like and please review and lemme know what you think! Enjoy!_

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_**Flashbulbs**_

"Thanks man and be sure to come back and see us here at _Pizza Hut_." Leo said with a smile and a wave to the costumer who gave him a confused frown before driving off.

Hyde shook his head as he continued to put a stack of photos into a labeled envelop.

"It's The Foto Hut, Leo. Not_ Pizza Hut_." he reminded, never looking up from his task.

"Ooohhh." the old hippy nodded understandingly before breaking out into a smile, "That's good to know man, cause we don't have any pizza."

Hyde sealed the envelop closed and tossed it in the box with the others, he then noticed an old pizza box resting beside the box of photos and carefully lifted the top open. His face showed his disgust as he took out an old piece from the box.

"That's not entirely true, Leo." he said as he continued to examine the old food, wondering just how long it had been here.

Leo's face lit up as he saw the food in Hyde's hand. As if it were a plate of cookies, or even a fresh piece of pizza, Leo took the rotten piece of pizza into his own hands.

"Thanks man." he said before taking a big bite, "I was getting pretty hungry."

Again Hyde's face displayed a look of repulsion as he watched his employer take another bite and smile largely.

"No problem, man." Hyde said not quite sure of what else he could've said.

While Leo continued to eat his lunch, Hyde went back to working. He had about fifteen more minutes till his two hour break.

He started clearing up the work counter that was by the window. The old pizza box he found was a sign that said the place was in need of a quick clear out. He threw a couple of old candy wrappers into the trash bin, moved some of the "film" off to the side, and some of the actual film to the other side.

Then he saw the calendar of different landscapes. That wasn't too unusual, Leo must have gotten it for free somewhere. But what was really surprising was that the calendar was the correct year.

Picking up an old tack off the counter, Hyde flipped open the calendar to the right month. As he hung up the picture of a some farm house with a two horses standing close by it, he skimmed his eyes across the numbered boxes trying to remember what today's date was.

He froze when he realized what it was. The thirteenth.

"Shit." He muttered to himself, not believing he hadn't remembered sooner.

Hyde turned away from the date and looked over to Leo, who was still holding the old pizza in one hand as he used the other hand to move a few things around on the countertop.

"Hey Leo." He called out and the hippie looked up with a dazed look in his eyes.

"I can't find my pizza, man." Leo told Hyde, "I just had it!"

"It's in your hand man."

Leo furrowed his brow towards Hyde before turning his attention to his left hand. His eyes lit up and his grin reappeared when he saw his snack once again.

"Oh! Thanks man." He said before taking another bite.

"Sure thing, Leo." Hyde nodded, "Hey you think I can take my break a little early today? I got something to take care of."

"Oh yeah, man. Go for it." Leo reassured, "I won't tell the boss if you don't."

Hyde frowned for only a few seconds, before deciding to go along with it—it was easier that way—and grabbing his coat. "Alright Leo, thanks. I'll see you later."

0o0o0o

_1970_

Kitty Forman was happily humming to herself as she finished up the last of the dishes in the sink. She had the whole house to herself, Laurie had gone off to her friend's sleepover and Eric had baseball practice. Red had gone along with Eric to make sure he didn't wear his mitt as a hat again.

Kitty planned on enjoying her few minutes of solitude, before she had to get started on dinner, with a nice cup of tea and a new magazine. However, the opening of the sliding door changed her plans.

"Oh Steven." she said, relieved to see it was only her son's curly haired friend, "You scared me.

"Sorry." young Hyde replied with a slight shrug.

Kitty smiled and began dry her hands of the nearby dish towel, "I'm afraid Eric's not here right now. He's at baseball practice…which is where you should be too." she said suddenly remembering that the boys were on the same team. "Why aren't you at practice?"

Again the little boy shrugged, "I didn't feel like going."

"Oh but Steven, the more you practice the better you get."

"Mrs. Forman," Hyde began, "I've missed practice three other times. And Eric's never missed one…do I really need to say more?"

"Well I guess not." she said with a small laugh, "You can go wait for Eric down in the basement if you want."

"Yeah, ok." Hyde nodded, but didn't move from where he was standing. Well if he was moving, he didn't move very much.

Kitty was quick to notice the little boy's snail like pace to lower level in the house. He probably knew he would be alone down there, and Kitty had a good feeling that Hyde didn't want to be alone. Other wise he would have stayed at his house.

"Or you could stay up here and keep me company." she suggested with a smile.

The corners of Hyde's mouth twitched as he fought back the urge to show his excitement. Instead he simply nodded his head.

"Yeah, I guess I could do that. For a few minutes."

"Great." Kitty smiled before going into full mothering mode. "Now you sit down over at the table and I'll make you something to eat. What did you have for lunch?"

Hyde took a seat at the round table, "Nothing."

Kitty's smile faded a bit. How could he not have had lunch yet, it was all ready three o'clock. And a growing boy needed to eat all three healthy meals in the day.

"Well then," she began again, making her smile reappear, "how does one of my famous peanut butter and jelly sandwiches sound? It's made with extra Kitty love."

Little Hyde smirked and nodded from his seat, "Sound cool."

Kitty smiled back before walking over to the refrigerator to get the needed ingredients. The kitchen was filled with a comfortable silence but Kitty's motherly instincts were telling her that the messy little boy sitting at her table wanted to talk.

"So Steven, how's school?"

With a bored like expression he answered, "Boring."

Kitty nodded and continued to spread the creamy peanut butter on the slice of bread, "What about your mother?"

"The same." Hyde replied in a tone that showed he really didn't want to talk about his mother.

Knowing that Steven couldn't see her, Kitty shook her head. Edna Hyde wasn't exactly Mother of the Year. And sometimes it seemed like she didn't try or even want to be. In the last five baseball games the boys had had she'd yet to show up to any. And at the Christmas play last year, she went but ended up leaving early. Missing Hyde's scene by a few seconds.

Kitty liked to think that Edna was just a very busy woman and really did love her son. But really even a busy woman should be able to take the time to make her child a sandwich.

Shaking her head slightly, and deciding to forget about Steven's mother and focus on Steven, Kitty brought a plate with the finished sandwich over to Hyde.

"Is there anything interesting you'd like to share?" she asked as she poured some milk into a small glass.

"My birthday's this Saturday." Hyde shared before taking a bit of his sandwich-glad that the crust was cut off.

"Oh that's right, Eric was telling us about it last night at dinner." Kitty said with a smile as she brought the milk over and sat down at the table. "So are you exited? You're turning the big _one zero_!"

"Yeah, I guess so." Hyde shrugged his shoulders before taking another bite.

Kitty furrowed her brow, "Steven, you should be excited, you've reached the double digits!" she said happily before laughing.

Hyde had to smirk, it was easy to see that she was more excited about his birthday than he was.

"What kind of presents are you asking for this year?"

"It's nothing much…" Hyde began, "And I don't even really want it."

"Oh come on, tell me." Kitty insisted, "Please?"

Hyde's smirk at last turned into a smile as he got ready to tell his best friend's mother about his birthday wish list.

"I want the new Hot Wheels California/8Race set. It's so cool!" the young boy began to say, getting more and more excited, "It's like a real race track but it's orange. But it's got the loops and the spirals! And you can have two car racing each other side by side! I'm also asking for some more of the Sizzlers. The race set only come with two."

Kitty smiled and nodded and she tried to follow along with the rambling little boy. She didn't think she had seen him so excited or so talkative before.

"Those cars are awesome!" Hyde continued, "They're not like the regular Hot Wheels either, cause they've got these built in motors and batteries. They're like real cars!"

Kitty let out a small laugh, "They sure do sound like fun."

"Yeah, and I think I might actually get them too." he shared with her and Kitty smiled, "The other day, my Mom and me were at the store and I showed it to her and she actually looked and got to see them."

"That is a good sign then." Kitty said with a laugh and Hyde nodded along.

"This is gonna be one of the greatest birthdays." Hyde said out loud, "Especially if my Dad comes."

Kitty's smile fell and a frown started to appear on her face; she tried not to make it too obvious though. But Steven hadn't heard from his father since he had left Point Place some time last year.

"Your father told you he was coming for your birthday?"

"Well no…" Hyde started to explain, his tone sad only for the first two words, "But I figured since he's didn't come for Christmas, he'd come for my birthday. He might be missing me."

Kitty smiled and hoped for Steven's sake that Bud Hyde would come in for a surprise visit.

"I'm sure he does miss you, Steven. Very much so." she told assured him with a smile, "It sounds like you're going to have a busy birthday. I hope if you have some time in between your fun you'll stop for a little birthday celebration with us."

"Yeah." Hyde nodded, not letting on to the fact that he would make sure he could come over here for more than a few minutes that day, "I could do that."

"Good." she smiled.

Hyde nodded again and then noticed that he had finished his sandwich. And while he enjoyed talking with Mrs. Forman, he thought he'd done enough talking and the last thing he wanted was for her to get annoyed with him.

"I think I'm gonna wait for Eric in the basement." he announced as he got off of the chair, "Thanks for the sandwich, Mrs. Forman."

"Anytime, sweetie."

0o0o0o

_1978_

Hyde climbed into his new El Camino and started the engine, ready to head on over to his destination.

As he put the car in reverse and looked at his side mirrors, he realized he couldn't go over there. Not yet. He couldn't go empty handed. He needed a gift.

But he didn't have a lot of money in his pockets, and he was already late as it was.

He needed to find something quick. Something that was cheap. Something that she'd like. Or something she used. Maybe something she needed. It had to be something that when she'd use it she'd think of him.

Hyde took a few minutes to give the gift some thought. Then suddenly an idea popped into his head. Not wanting to waste any more time, Hyde partially jumped out of his vehicle only to jump back in to put the car in park and stop it from rolling backwards.

Once his El Camino was safe and immobile, Hyde rushed back into The Foto Hut.

0o0o0o

_1970_

Hyde slowly walked onto the Forman Patio and over to the glass door. He took a peek through it and saw Kitty standing close to the stove, her attention on a round chocolate cake she was putting on the glass stand. His mouth water just looking at the dessert, he knew very well that Mrs. Forman never bought cakes made at any stores, so this cake had been homemade—and those were the best kind.

Seeing the cake didn't just bring out a feeling a hunger but also a sadder feeling as well. But Hyde being Hyde, did his best forget about his feelings—that way no one could see them—and decided to go into the house.

"Hi Mrs. Forman." He called out, remembering how he had startled her the other day and not wanting to do it again.

Kitty looked up from the cake and smiled over at the little boy, "Oh Steven, happy birthday sweetie."

"Um…" but before Hyde could get another word in, Kitty was already at his side.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Steven!" she sang to him while hugging him tightly, never noticing that Hyde never smile, "Happy birthday to you!"

Hyde carefully pulled out of Kitty embraces, not wanting to hurt her feelings, "It's not my birthday Mrs. Forman."

Kitty's brows knitted together as she watched the little boy take a seat at the kitchen table. It was Saturday, the day he himself had told her his birthday was. And Eric couldn't stop talking about what he was planning on giving Hyde for his birthday this morning. Kitty was positive that today was his birthday.

She took a few steps closer to the little boy and noticed his cheerless expression and she quickly became concerned. Something had happened.

"Are you sure its' not your birthday Steven?" she asked taking a seat next to him, "I could have sworn you told me it was this Saturday."

Hyde nodded his head looking down at the porcelain bird knick-knack, "It was, but now I decided to skip it."

"Skip it?" the mother hen asked with a frown, "Steven honey, you're only ten years old. People don't start wanting to skip their birthdays until they're my…"she suddenly drifted off not wanting to make herself sound too old. "parents age. They're old."

Kitty laughed but little Hyde never moved his eyes from the figurine.

"Skipping it just seemed like the right thing to do." he explained with a shrug and a sad tone of voice, "Nobody bothered to remember it anyways."

Though the somber small voice and matching expression of Steven's told her this was the unfortunate truth, Kitty still couldn't believe her ears. How could his parents, his own mother forget his birthday? She knew Edna Hyde had done some not so wonderful things but this was…terrible.

Kitty looked at the sad little boy and her heart broke for him. She wanted to give him a great big hug and make him a hundred brownies.

She'd have to go to the store did get the ingredients for the brownies, and she knew he wasn't the biggest fan of hugs. She'd been surprised that he'd let her hug him earlier. Still she had to do something.

"Steven, honey." she said softly as she gently placed her hand on his arm, "I'm sure that's not true. Maybe your mother's just pretending and she's really planning a big surprise for you." She said trying reassure not just Hyde but herself too.

"No Mrs. Forman, they forgot." the little boy replied looking up and meeting Kitty's eyes, "My dad didn't come back. He didn't even call. And my mom left with Uncle whoever last night and said she'd see me Monday."

Kitty shook her head, trying not to let Hyde see how upset she was. This poor boy was going to need more than brownies…maybe she could whip up some snicker doodles too. She almost wanted to tell him to stop talking about it, she was close to going out and finding Edna to give her a piece of her mind.

Of course she could do neither. She knew it wouldn't be good if Hyde kept this to himself-it was good he was sharing-and she wasn't about to leave him alone on his birthday like both his parents had already done.

"Nobody else remembered, so I figured why should I?"

"Oh Steven, that is just not true." Kitty told him giving his arm a gentle squeeze, "We a1l remembered here."

Hyde looked down again, "You're just saying that."

"I am not." she said firmly with a shake of her head, "In fact Eric and Red left to the store a few minutes ago to buy your gift." Hyde's face lit up and it made Kitty's smile grow. "And Laurie…well she's at a friends house right now, but I'm sure she remembered too."

Hyde smirked, happy to hear that Eric's evil sister wasn't here, "Yeah, she remembered."

Kitty let out a soft giggle as she stood up from her seat and walked over to where the chocolate cake was waiting on the counter.

"And who else would I have made the special chocolate birthday cake for?" she asked placing the cake in front of Hyde.

Hyde's little eyes became wide as they stared at the delicious looking dessert. It wasn't finished, as the frosting had yet to be put on it, but Hyde's mouth was already watering.

Slowly he looked up ay Mrs. Forman, "This cake is…for…me?"

"Well of course it is honey." Kitty said with a warm smile.

Hyde smirked a small smirk and then turned his attention back to the cake. "No one's ever made me a cake before."

There was another tug at Kitty's heart. She couldn't believe that this little boy had been deprived of so many things. One of those being his own birthday cake made with flour, eggs, and lots of love.

Shaking her head slightly, Kitty walked back over to the countertop by the stove and grabbed a plastic bowl that she had been mixing some frosting in.

"Here you are, Steven." she said handing him the bowl and rubber spatula.

Hyde frowned with confusion, hopping she couldn't see that he was worried that she had changed her mind about making him a cake.

"What's this?"

"It's frosting, Steven." Kitty informed before going on to explain, "For Laurie and Eric's birthdays I always bake them a cake and then let them frost it and decorate it however they want to. I thought you might like doing the same."

The corners of Hyde's mouth twitched, "I can decorate this cake anyway I want to?"

"That's right." Kitty said with a nod.

"Cool." he replied nodding his head in a approval while looking at the cake in front of him, ideas already filling up his head.

Kitty smiled happily as she watched Hyde pick up the utensil covered in the chocolate frosting and begin smearing it over the top of the cake. Suddenly an idea popped into her head.

"Oh let me get you some sprinkles to put on too." she announced before going over to the cupboards.

Though she wasn't to sure if Hyde and heard her say anything. When she had gathered the assorted colors of sugar and made her way back to the table she found him still deeply concentrated on the cake. A smile-not a smirk-on his face.

It amazed Kitty at how much he seemed to be enjoying himself; her own children were already starting to loose interest in the tradition

"You know Steven," she began as she placed the sprinkles on the table, "why don't you stay here for the rest of the day? I'll even see if I can convince Red into going out to dinner tonight."

"Really?" Hyde asked still in shock at all the special treatment, it had never been like this on his other birthdays.

"Of course, after all you are the Birthday Boy." she laughed a bit and Hyde's smile came back, "There is one condition though."

Hyde's face fell and worry started to fill him once again, but when he saw Kitty smile the worry left him just as fast as it had come to him.

"You have to spend the night here." she told him, "I can't stand the thought of you spending your birthday alone like that. Okay?"

"Yeah, ok." Hyde nodded with a grin, "I could do that."

"Good." Kitty said with a smile as she walked closer to where Hyde was sitting.

Once she was close enough, she placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned down to kiss the top of his head.

"Happy birthday, Steven."

Hyde looked up at Kitty, his smile still in place, "Thanks Mrs. Forman."

The room filled with a comfortable silence for a few seconds. Kitty was moving around in the kitchen, placing the dirty dishes in the sink; and Hyde was busy frosting his birthday cake. Suddenly a question entered his mind.

"Mrs. Forman?" he called out getting Kitty's attention right away.

"When's your birthday?"

0o0o0o

_1978_

Hyde pulled into the Forman driveway and noticed none of his friends were outside. It must have been because of the cold. The wimps. Taking a look out his car window, he looked into the kitchen through the glass doors where he found Kitty at the stove making dinner.

Hyde didn't know what to do. Feel upset because Red and Eric had her cooking on her birthday or grin at the fact that both those men would soon be in big trouble.

He had a good feeling that neither of them had remembered Kitty's birthday.

When he'd asked Eric what he was going to o on the thirteenth the skinny twitchy boy just shrugged his shoulder and said he'd probably just go see a movie with Donna.

And while there was still Red, who had been helping Kitty celebrate her birthday for who knows how many years, he'd never said anything about not knowing what to get Kitty as a present. Something he did for every present giving holiday.

Hyde had good feeling this would be a nice show to watch, both Eric and Red getting in trouble with _Kitty._ He regretted moving in with Bud-and this wasn't the first time.

But while he wanted to see how Eric and Red deal with the consequences, that he was sure would be brutal, he didn't want Kitty to think everyone had forgotten her birthday. He'd been there before and Kitty had assured him that his birthday wasn't forgotten, now it was his turn to do the same.

Hyde opened the El Camino door and grabbed the small gold box before stepping out into the cold. He hurriedly, yet kept his coolness, made his way to the sliding door.

Once he was there, he slid open the door and stepped inside not bothering to knock. The kitchen had changed its appearance since his tenth birthday but feeling it gave when he stepped inside remained warm and welcoming. Hyde had to give a small smile at that.

"Hey Mrs. Forman." he greeted walking over to here, "Happy Birthday."

Kitty stopped what she was doing when she saw the little box, Hyde had moved just close enough for her to see.

"Oh." she said sounding happy, but also sounding like she could start crying.

Hyde hoped she didn't cry. Even if they were happy tears. He hated seeing her cry.

"I can't believe you remembered." she said smiling as he handed her the gift, "You are the first person to say anything all day."

Hyde smirked and shrugged his shoulders, feeling better about himself and his last minute gift.

"_This is gonna be good." _he thought to himself, as he thought about what was going to happen to Eric for forgetting his mother's birthday and tried to keep his smirk from growing to big.

He watched as a smile broke out onto her face when she opened her gift. She looked back up at him.

"And how did you know I needed more flashbulbs?" she asked and Hyde just smirked, not really needing to explain why. Everyone knew the photographer in Kitty.

"Thank you." she said still smiling as she brought her hand up to pull Hyde closer to her and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, making Hyde's smirk turn into a slight smile.

"So, do you wanna stay for dinner?" she asked after putting the box away and already preparing a Manwich for him.

"Oh, no, thanks." Hyde told her, but already seeing her actions, "I'm just gonna grab a sandwich."

"A sandwich!" Kitty said in surprise as she put the last of the meat on the bottom bun, "Steven, a sandwich is a sandwich but a _Manwich_ is a meal." she repeated the slogan before handing him the meal.

"Oh, well, thanks Mrs. Forman." Hyde said gratefully before taking a bite of the home cooked meal, he'd missed while living with his father.

He decided to leave now and let Eric and Red get in trouble now, then tomorrow come around and be seen as the good guy for remembering the date.

As he left the house and headed over to his car, he felt the same feelings he always felt when leaving the place that he considered home. Sadness because he couldn't stay. And happiness because he was welcomed and loved.

But today he felt a extra feeling of happiness. He'd remembered Mrs. Forman's birthday and had been the only one too. He managed to come by and bring her a little gift. And he got a_ Manwich_.

_The End_

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_**Author's Note: **__So what'd you think? Yay? Nay? Keep? Delete? Let me know what you thought!_

_Until next time, thanks for reading, hope you liked, please review and lemme know what you think, take care, and have a nice day!_


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